verschiedenvsverschwiegenTell them apart

Which to use

“verschieden” and “verschwiegen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#6,741
“verschieden” frequency rank
#13,057
“verschwiegen” frequency rank
19798
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verschieden verschwiegen
Definition nicht gleich, andere Eigenschaften habend fähig zu schweigen, ein Geheimnis für sich zu behalten

Where the eye mixes verschieden and verschwiegen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. verschieden runs 11 letters (CVCCCCVVCVC) against verschwiegen's 12 (CVCCCCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
verschieden
12 ch
verschwiegen

Visual trap between verschieden and verschwiegen

A purely visual mix-up. verschieden ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃiːdn̩]) and verschwiegen ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃviːɡn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19798, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verschieden is recorded at frequency rank #6,741, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃiːdn̩]. verschwiegen is at rank #13,057, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃviːɡn̩].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 19798, this pair ranks #1,904,483 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verschieden vs verschwiegen

Shared letters: cehinrsv. Private to "verschieden": d. Private to "verschwiegen": gw.

"verschieden" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCCVVCVC  ·  "verschwiegen" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verschieden ← evrschieden · vercshieden · verrschieden · verscchieden · verscheiden · verschhieden · verschideen · verschiedden
  • verschwiegen ← evrschwiegen · vercshwiegen · verrschwiegen · verscchwiegen · verschhwiegen · verschiwegen · verschwieegn · verschwiegenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verschieden" and "verschwiegen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈʃiːdn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈʃviːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "verschieden" vs "verschwiegen" - which ranks higher?
"verschieden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,741 in our German list, against #13,057 for "verschwiegen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "verschieden" and "verschwiegen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verschieden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verschwiegen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,904,483 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verschieden" and "verschwiegen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verschwiegen vs verschwimmen". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,904,483 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list